September 28, 2023 a thought for today, If you don't want to be deceived, you must have as many eyes as hairs on the head. German Proverbs

My first upload for yesterday was another of the “my choice.” I like the way this tower along with the farmer’s land and the white cloud filled sky show such depth and space and nature with man made. 

Here is another printing day completed with a short and quiet visit in the sanctuary as I passed through.

On the way home from church I stopped by the park for one of my photos of the day. Then as I came down the block on the way home I was behind a refuse collection truck. On a couple of the drivers stops he left the truck and went to the back of the houses and brought each container to the truck to be emptied than took the container back to the yard. I stopped him and asked if that service can be applied for, he said it can be. You have to have a written note from a doctor that you are unable to move the can to the front of the house. Interesting.

When I got home, I put my laundry in the washer and will finish it later today. That will be some other stairs to manage. I am adding up the steps on the pedometer. 

The second upload was titled “far away.” This image of the length of the street in sight goes on into the distance showing at least some distance away. 

I have started what I am naming a year-long-spring-cleaning project. I am going room by room, drawer by drawer, cupboard by cupboard cleaning out things I haven’t use in at least a year. So far I haven’t been able to donate the time each day that I have tentatively set for myself. These past two weeks have been difficult to cut out the time for that project. I think some things will slow down in the next couple of weeks.

Last night I finished one book and downloaded the next. The one I finished was The Long Shadow by David Baldacci. The one I started last night is The Reckoning by John Grisham. The books, the crocheting, the photos a day, the volunteering at church, and the memory/problem solving exercises are helping me most of my waking hours. The journey through the grieving process seems less severe as I keep my mind busy. Bob is always in my thoughts and I try to keep the good memories at the forefront. 

The first upload for today is called “playtime.” What better playtime but for the basketball court for the “older” crowd and the slides and swings for the “younger.” 

The word for today is opinion. Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance. Plato.  People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. Ralph Waldo Emerson.  I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend. Thomas Jefferson. Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us. The important thing is not to think much but to love much and so do that which best stirs you to love. Love is not great delight but desire to please God in everything. Saint Teresa of Avila. Predominant opinions are generally the opinions of the generation that is vanishing, Benjamin Disraeli.  The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind, William Blake.   

My next upload for today, another “my choice” is one of the many closeup shots I have of flowers in a favorite flower shop. This on of the red rose with a painterly filter stands out in my archives. 

This article is a little more about whether changes and how we may be affected this winter. It is mentioning how “El Nino in Ohio: How will the climate pattern impact weather this winter?” It suggests that people from the north wanting to get away from the winter may not find it as exciting to got to Florida for the season. It is mentioned that Florida may be “chiller” than in past winters. It goes further to say that folks living in California where there are ongoing droughts may be “reaching for an umbrella more often.” To compliment that thought is the thinking that “those in the iciest Midwest states might be letting their snow shovels collect dust.” Apparently scientists and/or others have noticed that “big weather shifts are coming as a fast-moving El Nino climate pattern forms in the Pacific.” The article explained that El Nino is a warming in the Pacific Ocean near the Equator that “occurs every two to seven years.” It goes on to explain that the warm surface waters are “replaced by colder flows coming from the depths.” That action changes the earths storm patterns. One meteorologist called it a "flipped pattern" where the South is cooler than average and the North is warmer.” In this report they are saying that in Ohio there will be less rain and higher temperatures in the winter, as noted in this month of September. The article ended by noting that there may be “isolated incidents of severe weather.....a few big rain or snowstorms” but not on a regular basis.

I am going to try one of the grocery store frozen dinners for my meal tonight, along some fresh fruit.

Joy

             closed and maybe forgotten warehouse

 September 26, 2023 a thought for today, If you would have the lamp burn, you must pour oil into it. German Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was another of the “my choice.”  A flower that has seen its best days but still hanging on for one more day.

There is some painting going on outside.....hopefully the garage will be done today. It is looking much better. There was a lot of old peeling paint, now it is beginning to look much fresher. Today is also a food pantry day.....

.......I’m back from food pantry. We had a good number of families today and the movement in and about was smooth. No one had to wait very long to be waited on. 

I was able to spend some time working on the thank you notes. I am trying to get some formatting done so I can complete the messages. I think I bit off more than I could chew trying to make them “special.” I am doing an insert with a personal message on them instead of the over-the-counter pre-printed style cards. I have most but not all of the addresses I need so I will have to figure a way to find those. I also want some special postal stamps to “match” as close as I can, the colors on the card. 

The second upload for September 25 was “mess.” It is some of the old cans and

containers that need to be gone through and thrown out or at least neatened. 

I am glad it hasn’t been raining today and hope that Brian will be able to finish the painting. It is supposed to rain the next couple of days. Hopefully what he gets done today will be ok in the wet weather. 

While I was at the church, I got the rest of what I need to finish the bulletin also. I should be able to get that done tomorrow along with the insert of anthem lyrics, the birthday card and the envelopes printed before I go back to pantry. 

The fist upload for today is “grown.” This is Sue’s black berry bush getting a running start. 

The word for today is mystery. The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery, Francis Bacon.  It is the dim haze of mystery that adds enchantment to pursuit, Antoine Rivaro. Veiling truth in mystery, Virgil.  Mysteries are due to secrecy, Francis Bacon.  At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be infinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable, Henry David Thoreau. In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors, William Blake. Secrecy is the element of all goodness; even virtue, even beauty is mysterious, Thomas Carlyle.  I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat, Edgar Allan Poe.  It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being, and we therefore yield to our neighbors, even to our animal neighbors, the same right as ourselves to inhabit this vast land. Sitting Bull.  Friendship! Mysterious cement of the soul, Sweet'ner of life, and solder of society. Robert Blair.  Extremes in nature equal ends produce; In man they join to some mysterious use. Alexander Pope. 

The next upload for today is another “my choice.” Meet Tiger, he is not mimicking his larger cousin he is bored. 

Here is a bit of inforamtion that may start some thinking on the subject of technology’s social media aspect in its reach and what it is doing to all ages of people for good or bad. The article was written by a professor of Industrial and Civil Engineering. He wrote that he in his position “specializes in understanding how humans interact with computers and a psychology professor with expertise in mental health. It is mentioned that there are studies to show how to understand the motives of young people who try social media challenges. In those studies the “identified four key factors that motivate young people to participate in a challenge: social pressure, the desire for attention, entertainment value and a phenomenon called the contagion effect.” The social pressure aspect forces some to believe they will be better accepted if they try a particular challenge like the ice bucket challenge. Some want to be included with others who have already tried the challenge. Others try a “challenge” to get attention. The problem is the fact is that people can be seriously injured in some of the “popular” challenges. A third reason for some to try a challenge seen through social media presentations (digital media platforms) is for amusement or curiosity. They think that others will find them funny and “brave.”  The last type mentioned in the article is the “contagion effect....behaviors, attitudes and ideas spread from person to person.” After or as part of the studies in this field by the professors who participated the “research also explored how participants viewed challenges after doing them.” Some said they hadn’t fully understood the “physical danger or potential risk” and would have “opted not to do the challenge.” So the final outcome to this study was that if “more information about the potential risks......was offered to students in schools.....and shared on social media, it could help teens and young adults” make better decisions. 

Peggy brought us homemade vegetable soup yesterday so I think I will make salmon patties to go with it for dinner. 

Joy

                Forgotten and hidden

 September 24, 2023 a thought for today, Too often do we waste time chasing a gust of wind or grasping at shadows. Chinese Proverb

One of the uploads for September 23 was “bottle.” I chose this bottle with a handle and with some wilting flower for my entry of this assignment.  

Sundays are special days not just for church but, for me at last, there is a different sensitivity from other days of the week about it. It’s quieter, more relaxed, somehow freer. 

I am getting ready to head out to church. I am back in the choir now and we are singing an anthem... “Celebrate God’s Love” so I have to be there a little earlier for a rehearsal. 

Lowell and Rebecca are leaving for a vacation. I feel a little bit adrift because I have gotten to depend and lean on him more than I probably should be. I’m sure it will pass as I grow stronger after the most recent event in my life and shock missing my nearly constant companion and helper.  

My second upload for yesterday was “sepia”. I like the old time feeling this image gave to part of the shopping center.

Church was low in attendance today, even a little lower than has become normal. Maybe it is due to the change of season. Today is the first day of autumn, it is a perfect sample of what is called autumn. Soon the leaves will be turning. 

My first upload for today is “triangle.” I am using this image that I shot this morning of the triangle in the Celtic Cross design on the pulpit. 

The word today is music. He who sings scares away his woes, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.  Music is the universal language of mankind, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything, Plato. Music in the soul can be heard by the universe, Lao Tzu.   Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent, Victor Hug. Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue, Plato.   Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without, Confucius. Music takes us out of the actual and whispers to us dim secrets that startle our wonder as to who we are, and for what, whence, and whereto, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Music is an agreeable harmony for the honor of God and the permissible delights of the soul, Johann Sebastian Bach. The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between them, Mozart.  When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest, Henry David Thoreau.  Music is harmony, harmony is perfection, perfection is our dream, and our dream is heaven, Henri Frederic Amiel.  Music is well said to be the speech of angels; in fact, nothing among the utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine. It brings us near to the infinite, Thomas Carlyle.

The second upload for today is “moon light.” This on is from the archives because I am not generally awake any more when the moon is bright and shiny. 

Here is another story about an icon in the Columbus community. It has a lot of history for my family. Before shopping malls there were the downtown shopping trips. My dad worked part time in one of the parking garages. I went to a class on “beauty products” when I was in girl scouts. All of that not to mention Christmas time at Lazarus and the Thanksgiving day parade with Santa in it. The article related to how Lazarus “left its mark on how Americans shop.” It all began with a German immigrant who opened a one-room men’s clothing store in Columbus in 1851. By 1909 it had grown so much that is needed a six-story building with 20 departments including women’s apparel. They continued and grew for one hundred and fifty-three years. Newer malls began to popup and that was the beginning of changes to the shopping experiences in Columbus. That store the one that had grown to six stories closed in 2004. While it was “here” there were many things that brought about major changes. One was the “first stores to sell merchandise at one price, with no bargaining.” Then there was the first store in the US to use a “moving escalator.” It introduced Bargain Basement closeouts. And here’s something I learned from the article, during the 1918 pandemic it was called the "The Good-Health Store of Columbus," with fresh air in abundance due to a ventilating system that changed the air “every four minutes.” Later it became Federated with other major stores in the country. Still later it was the first department store to add air conditioning, 1934. There was a renovation that restored the brick and terra cotta facade. There was once a street that went through the center leading to “a two-story Galleria.” The building is still standing and now serves for “mix of uses—offices, retail, artists’ studios, exhibitions, and restaurants—rather than eager shoppers.

You all know I am a “foodie”, I love good food. Evening meals will be making a change. I have prepared one main meal a day everyday since I got married. With Bob no longer with us I won’t be cooking every night. Sue and I have different tastes in food so we have decided to each chose our own meal each evening.

Joy

                everyday maintenance

 September 22, 2023 a thought for today, If heaven made him, earth can find some use for him. Chinese Proverb

An upload for yesterday was “my choice.” This was taken a while back when I had a bleeding heart plant in my yard. Through some maintenance the plant was destroyed but I have this lasting image of it in its heyday. 

This is “newsletter” Friday. The third Friday of the month is when I have help putting the finishing touches on the newsletter. I had a bit of a stumble on it on this Friday morning. There was a note on the stack I had ready to finish. The note said that there was an extra envelope to put in it before mailing. The problem with that is they were already folded and we have to unfold them, stick the envelope in at the fold so they won’t slide out and then re-fold them. It would be easier and more cost and time effective (if we were being paid for it) to be told before the work was already done. 

Another upload for yesterday was “ice cream.” I like a little chocolate syrup and Reddi Whip on top. 

I had a phone call last evening from my wonderfully generous grandson inviting me and my sister, Sue, to come to Florida for a visit. I have mentioned that being on a beach would be wonderful and it would be. Honestly it is a dream at this point and maybe it will happen soon. The problem is first.  I don’t have a place to leave Sweet Pea without worrying that she would have a seizure. Second, there are still calls and other things still occurring in the process of settling things that I would be on my mind. Also I am at a point at the moment that I need a traveling companion and a way to take Sweet Pea with me which would mean going by car. The trip itself would be part of the adventure. I’m so picky, but I am who I am and it’s hard to “teach an old dog new tricks (ways).”

Brian was here cutting the grass today and will be back to work on painting the garage tomorrow and Sunday.

The first upload for today was “pasta.” This is one of the quick grabs from the frig when I am hungry and don’t have time to cook....prepared macaroni salad. 

The word today is money. He who controls the money supply of a nation controls the nation, James A. Garfield. With money in your pocket, you are wise and you are handsome and you sing well too, Yiddish Proverb.  Money is like sea-water: The more we drink the thirstier we become; and the same is true of fame, Arthur Schopenhauer. Getting money is like digging with a needle; spending it is like water soaking into sand, Japanese Proverb. Money makes a good servant, but a bad master, Francis Bacon. Frugality includes all the other virtues, Cicero. The sinews of war are infinite money, Marcus Tullius Cicero. Money is of a prolific generating nature. Money can beget money, and its offspring can beget more, Benjamin Franklin. A wise person should have money in their head, but not in their heart, Jonathan Swift. If you are poor, though you dwell in the busy marketplace, no one will inquire about you; if you are rich, though you dwell in the heart of the mountains, you will have distant relatives, Chinese Proverbs.  A miser grows rich by seeming poor. An extravagant man grows poor by seeming rich, William Shakespeare.  If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some, Benjamin Franklin. Only when the last tree has been cut down; Only when the last river has been poisoned; Only when the last fish has been caught; Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten, American Indian Proverb.

My other upload for the day is another of the “my choice.” One of the few roses I had on another plant that is gone from my back yard garden....another photo for the memory. 

We have a little more history about Columbus and a visitor in that history. The article is telling about an event in 1846, “Young writer travels to Ohio, Columbus in 1840s, eager to tell its story.” The article started out by saying that Columbus was different than it is today and went on to say that people here today are “partly the result of those who came before us.” When the “young writer” came to Columbus, he saw a “bustling and thriving village of about 10,000 people.” In 1812 the city was the new capital and had been a Native American site with the mound at Mound and High Streets. Columbus had the National Road and the Ohio Erie Canal. In 1937 the  “Depression” was called the “Panic” and trade and commerce slowed. In the 1840s German and Irish immigrants were coming to Columbus. Most of the streets were “dirt trails and a walk in the woods was only a few blocks away.” In the fall of 1846 into Columbus a “young man rode on a white horse named Old Pomp. His name was Henry Howe.” He learned the story of Ohio and planed to write about it for the world to see. His father had been a printer and publisher and owned some of the “best bookstores in America.” So Henry learned the trade and wrote some stories for the newspapers. He then went to New York to work in a bank with an uncle. He didn’t feel that was his trade so in time left there. He read a book on some historical subjects and was so impressed by that book that he decided he wanted “to dedicate my life to traveling and making such books.” He traveled back to Ohio in the area of Marietta. He planned “to walk across the state.” But after 100 miles he decided to buy Old Pomp and traveled on. The article related that he was a good-natured man and was working out his plan at a good time in for Ohio when pioneers and their children were still in the area “with stories to tell.” In 1847 he published a book titled "Historical Collections of Ohio." The book sold more than 18,000 copies. Eventually he married and moved to Cincinnati. He published more books in his career. Finally after another move he came back to Columbus. He is buried at GreenLawn Cemetery.

Pizza!!

Joy

                 weeds are beautiful

September 20, 2023 a thought for today, If one word does not succeed, ten thousand are of no avail. Chinese Proverb

My first upload for yesterday was “on the floor.” The best thing on the floor in my house is Sweet Pea. 

I made it to the board meeting last night. I missed the last three since  I didn't want to leave Bob. It feels good to be getting slowly back into my regular activities. I still don't drive at night so Sue has agreed to take me to night time meetings. 

It's another food pantry day so I got as much done as I could before I left for church. I finished  the newsletter. I received a late entry of photos for the picture page so I was able to fix that pretty quickly.

My second upload for yesterday was another of the “my choice”. This one was taken sometime ago. I was entranced by all the shapes, textures and objects in this image. 

After I got those done, I got started on my daily letter/blog and of course the photos of the day.  I want to get as much done as I can. Lowell and I have an appointment for more paperwork for Bob this afternoon and I have choir practice this evening.

Food pantry yesterday was very busy. we served about forty-four families today so far (I am writing when we have a break) we have had 30 families. 

One of todays uploads is called “this season.” Here is a “summery” view of part of my neighborhood. 

The word for today is learning.  Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn, Benjamin Franklin.  A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring. There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again, Alexander Pope.  A fool learns from experience. A wise man learns from the experience of others. Otto von Bismarck. We learn geology the morning after the earthquake, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  A man though wise should never be ashamed of learning more and must unbend his mind, Sophocles.  Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere, Chinese Proverbs.  Seeing much, suffering much and studying much, are the three pillars of learning, Benjamin Disraeli.  The things which hurt, instruct, Benjamin Franklin.  He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Learn as though you would never be able to master it; hold it as though you would be in fear of losing it, Confucius.  Learning makes a man fit company for himself as well as for others, English Proverbs. Learning is a treasury whose keys are querie, Arabian Proverb. 

This second upload today was another of the “my choice”. The color and delicacy of day lilies always captures my attention and especially as this on with the soft flower against the roughened wooden fence. 

Here is a story about another honor for Ohio’s part of the world. The title of the article is: Millennia-old sites get World Heritage status, Earthworks in Newark-Heath area the first places in Ohio to earn designation. World Heritage is the designation for places on Earth that are of outstanding universal value to humanity. Numbering (joining) in historical importance with: Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Galápagos Islands in Ecuador, the Taj Mahal in India, the Grand Canyon in the USA, or the Acropolis in Greece. The article began with mentioning that it was twenty months after “Licking County won the Super Bowl of economic development with Intel Corporation” the UNESCO World Heritage Committee “voted to recognize “the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks for inscription on the World Heritage List.” The Earthworks including the Octagon Earthworks, the Great Circle and the Heath all in Newark are “enclosures built by ancient American Indian peoples in central and southern Ohio between about AD 1 and 400.” One of these includes a 2,000 year old set of geometric earthworks every known. One of the promoters mentioned that people will want to see this site because “there were 600 sites in Ohio that had mounds from 100 BC to 300 AD. Two remain and we’ve got them both.” For people keeping up with this kind of information the Newark Earthworks are in a 18.6 moon cycle as the axis aligns with the “northernmost rising of the moon.” It is reported that that area’s “alignment” is the most accurate in the “prehistoric world”.  One of the people interviewed for the article was frustrated that the Earthworks were never mentioned the history textbooks and went on to say the textbooks information began with the year 1200 not with Christopher Columbus. 

For my third upload today the “assignment” was “landscape in black and white”. 

Lowell took me to dinner at York. 

Joy 

                            old and new

 September 18, 2023 a thought for today, Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous. Chinese Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was “whole.” I took this one for a look at the “whole” sanctuary (almost)...but also as a metaphor for a wholeness of another kind. 

Mondays the start to a new week, a week of new experiences and adjustments and acceptances for me. I have a new knowledge of who Bob really was. I am remembering the things about him that I took for granted at the time and wish I could tell him how much I respected him for each of those “things.” It’s true what I have heard many time.....tell them how much they mean to you at every chance before it’s to late. 

The second upload for September 17 was “tree.” I like finding trees that show their “character” and the “ravages” of time, weather, and life. 

I got some work done on the bulletin and some done on the newsletter as well. Hopefully I will be able to get them both done along with the birthday cards and shut in envelopes before Thursday. There are a couple of other happenings to add to the week. I plan to help at food pantry  two days and I have a cleaning lady here tomorrow who slows down my work on the computer. I have two meetings at church in the evenings and one meeting with Lowell about some of Bob’s business. It looks like I will have plenty on my mind and keep me occupied. 

I spent some time in the kitchen, something I haven’t been doing in the past week or so. We have been grabbing food whenever we were hungry. It was something easy and quick to fix. Today I made more meatballs for Sweet Pea and some cheesy potatoes along with the salmon patties for dinner. 

Lowell and Rebecca are planning on relaxing on the beach for a few days. Sounds so peaceful. Maybe I can go with them some time. 

I was lucky and had an invitation for an afternoon out to an early dinner. We went to Cracker Barrel. I couldn’t resist at least one photo of all of the “things” that can be found in the front room of Cracker Barrel for the photo assignment “a place.”

The word today is laughter. Time spent laughing is time spent with the Gods, Japanese Proverbs.  Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face, Victor Hugo.  With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die, Abraham Lincoln. Loud laughter is the mirth of the mob, who are only pleased with silly things; for true Wit or good Sense never excited a laugh since the creation of the world. A man of parts and fashion is therefore often seen to smile, but never heard to laugh, Lord Chesterfield.  Beware of him who hates the laugh of a child, Johann Kaspar Lavater.  Laughter is the cipher key wherewith we decipher the whole man, Thomas Carlyle.  The person who can laugh with life has developed deep roots with confidence and faith-faith in oneself, in people and in the world, as contrasted to negative ideas with distrust and discouragement, Democritus. If we may believe our logicians, man is distinguished from all other creatures by the faculty of laughter. He has a heart capable of mirth, and naturally disposed to it, Joseph Addison.  Laughter is one of the very privileges of reason, being confined to the human species, Thomas Carlyle.  In laughter there is always a kind of joyousness that is incompatible with contempt or indignation, Voltaire. You have as much laughter as you have faith, Martin Luther. 

The second photo for today is “my choice.” This is my sister’s blue spruce, one of
my favorite evergreen trees. I like the depth of the branches in this image 

This is interesting how the X is used. It is used in technology extensively. The title is “X marks the unknown in algebra – but X’s origins are a math mystery.” The article started off with mentioning that X is the “least-used letter” in the alphabet but shows up “throughout American culture.” It goes on to say that it “often symbolizes something unknown, with an air of mystery that can be appealing.” I think the most “familiar” place that it shows up is in math, mostly algebra, and technology. Historians of mathematics say it is difficult to determine when the letter X was chosen for this “role.” Some say it happened in translations others say it is more suited to a typographic origin. The article says that Algebra today is where “abstract symbols are manipulated, using arithmetic, to solve different kinds of equations.” The article goes on to say that “ancient societies” used no symbolic notations where they were “written out in words as part of a little story.” One of the big problems was “limitations in communication” that prevented “standardization”. Somewhere along the way “abbreviations crept in”. This article goes on to mention the history of the “language” of mathematics and the probabilities of how X slowly found it’s way as a substitutes for words or abbreviations from one language to another. The article told of how the letter X may have been used in the math in the Middle Ages but there was “no consistent use of it dating back that far”. Through time in mathematics there was a “variety of words, abbreviations and letters to represent the unknown”. As we got further in the article it is mentioned that a French scholar Rene Descartes is credited for using the X in its modern state of math. Noted in the article is how X is used in context other than mathematics, X as in Xmas, an artfully shaped x monogram as a shorthand “for Christ in both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox writings dating back as far as the 16th century”. There is the use of X in Xray in 1895 and there is the use of “X marks the spot” also x was used by people as their signature where needed when they could not read or write. 

Dinner tonight will be salmon patties (in the air fryer) and cheesy potatoes. 

Joy

                             leaning

 September 16, 2023 a thought for today, If one man guards a narrow pass, ten thousand cannot get through. Chinese Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was “environment.” This is a bit of my neighborhood environment. A look over a privacy fence to the tops of what lies beyond, peaceful yard umbrellas and summer green trees and a bit of blue sky.   

This is turning out to be another busy day here at my house. The young man who mows our lawn is painting the trim on the garage today. I think it may take more than one day. Lowell is doing some cleaning in Bob’s ham shack. Bob had a lot of hobby things in his “shack” so it is going to take some time to clean it out. That, tied to the emotional part of clearing it, will also take some time for breaks. It is surprising how much people can collect when staying in one home location for such a long time. I haven’t gotten the courage to begin going through his things yet. 

The second upload for the 15th was “my choice,” a close up of a summer gift of flowers in bloom. 

Sweet Pea and I did the usual curbside grocery pick up. I have just finished getting the groceries put away. Now I am going to tackle cleaning out the frig.

We are having a gorgeous early autumn-like day though we have a week or so before it is here officially.

I had a third upload for yesterday “get your game on.” I use to play backgammon with my husband nearly every evening on the front porch in the summer time.

Yesterday Lowell took me to the Apple store at Eastland, wow, what an experience. First of all I haven’t been to Easton in years and forgot how huge it is, honestly I think it has grown since I was there last. Then there is the Apple store, it’s also huge and crowded and noisy and full of techy things. After that we needed to take care of some necessary paper work for Bob. On the way home we picked up the Friday night pizza. 

My first upload for today is “last one,” a lone egg in the carton waiting to be boiled or fried. 

The word today is humor. The secret to humor is surprise, Aristotle. Imagination was given man to compensate for what he is not, and a sense of humor to console him for what he is, Francis Bacon. Melancholy men are of all others the most witty, Aristotle.  Wit lies in recognizing the resemblance among things which differ and the difference between things which are alike, Germaine De Stael. Avoid witicisms at the expense of others, Horace Mann. The comic and the tragic lie inseparably close, like light and shadow, Socrates. In the midst of the fountain of wit there arises something bitter, which stings in the very flowers, Lucretius. Fortune and humor govern the world, Francois de la Rochefoucauld. Jests that give pains are no jests, Miguel de Cervantes.  A jest often decides matters of importance more effectively and happily than seriousness, Horace.  

The second upload for today is “blue but not sky.”  I also like the tough of red in the hydrant.

A very dear friend and my church family member lived there for years and years. He was asked to move out over three years ago. He missed his “home” and all he had become use to. This story is about “redevelopment” of the Downtown YMCA building. They are hoping to make it an “affordable” apartments with 110 to 120 units. The building has now been empty for several months. It will be called the Lofts at the Y. If financing for the project works out the plan is to start construction in early 2025 and finish by then end of 2026. Another part of the plan is to keep most of the building in tact. They closed the building in 2019 with 400 residents in “single, dorm-style, rooms, making it one of the largest residential YMCAs left in the country.” The seven story building was built in 1924 “with ornate trim.”  In 1993 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places “and this year landed on Columbus Landmarks' Most Endangered Sites list.” The article shared that "It is described as castle-like, with stone buttresses, crenellated battlements, belt courses, copings, and finials.....with varnished wood paneling, built-in bookcases, fireplaces, and doors with pointed arches and leaded-glass windows within its first-floor social spaces." Several things must be in the plans to update it such as lack of enough bathrooms and parking and duct work that reduced ceiling height. I hope there will be a successful redevelopment with historic features kept in tact. 

I haven’t decided on what dinner will be for tonight. Maybe taco salad.

Joy

                 boarded up

 September 14, 2023 a thought for today, Fruits of the same tree have different tastes; children of the same mother have various qualities. Chinese Proverb

The first upload for September 13 was one of the “my choice.” It speaks for itself as a part of a backyard garden. The shapes and textures are what captured my eye. 

This has been a productive day. First, printing the bulletins at church. It was good to get out of the house for a while and keep my mind and focus on obligations. There were friends (church family) there today taking in the food for next week’s food pantry. That was good also, sort of easing back into a routine for me. 

Later Lowell picked me up for some business at the bank where I was needed too. After that he took me to lunch at York. 

The second upload for yesterday was “nature.” I am kind of drawn to old trees with shapes that show part of what went on in the life of the tree. Wind, rain, snow, ice all effect its nature. 

I didn’t get my laundry done as I usually do after my church work on Thursday so that will have to be tomorrow. 

My ipad will not charge and is out of juice now. Since it is an Apple appliance and I have a warranty on it for one more month and a half I am going to take it to an Apple store at Easton tomorrow. 

The first upload for today was “on my table.” I had stopped at McDonalds for brunch. Here is the result of my food choices on the table. 

The word today is humility. After crosses and losses men grow humbler and wiser, Benjamin Franklin.  It is humility that makes men as angels. It was pride that changed angels into devils, Saint Augustine.  The fruits of humility are love and peace, Hebrew Proverb.  Modesty forbids what the law does not, Marcus Annaeus Seneca.  Humility is to make a right estimate of oneself, Charles H. Spurgeon.  So rare is the union of beauty with modesty, Juvenal. To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness, Benjamin Franklin.  The greatest friend of truth is Time, her greatest enemy is Prejudice, and her constant companion is humility, Charles Caleb Colton. Usually the modest person passes for someone reserved, the silent for a sullen person, Horace. Modesty is the conscience of the body, Honore de Balzac. Modesty is not only an ornament, but also a guard to virtue, Joseph Addison.  Sense shines with a double luster when it is set in humility. An able and yet humble man is a jewel worth a kingdom, William Penn.  One that does not think to highly of himself is more than he thinks, Johann von Goethe.   Modesty is the chastity of merit, the virginity of noble souls, Madame de Girardin.  Humility like the darkness, reveals the heavenly lights, Henry David Thoreau.  Humility is the solid foundation of all the virtues, Confucius. There is something in humility which strangely exalts the heart, St. Augustine.  No truly great person ever thought themselves so, William Hazlitt.   Alas in the clothes of the greatest potentate what is there but a man, Robert Louis Stevenson.  The humble are in danger when those in power disagree, Phaedrus.

The second upload for today is “my choice.” This is an image and a capture of a moment in time of part of one of my church’s gardens. 

Here’s a bit about climate and Florida and California, remember I am just a summarizing “messenger.” The title relates that in the 1900s “they grew on the promise of a perfect climate” and became two of the states at the top of the global warming list. Today “they lead the country in climate change risks.” Back in the early days pamphlets pictured orange groves, palm tree gardens and the promise of to “escape” winter.  According to the article the place in the sun and the accompanying climates were the American dream. Again according to the article those very climates may now threaten those ideals. Here in the 21st century in California there are “dangerous heat waves, extended droughts that threaten the water supply, and uncontrollable wildfires.” And in Florida, the sea level rise is worsening the risks of high-tide flooding and storm surge from hurricanes.” I read here that in the 1870s and 1880s it was believed that people “thrived” in colder climates and newspapers painted a picture of that not being true, that after the Civil War people actually did better or as well in the “sun-kissed climates.” The climate question became uppermost in crop growth and an “inexhaustible resource” for farming. One man wrote that California was a “beautiful, even climate.” Another wrote that Florida was “blessed by nature with a semi-tropical climate.” In the 1880s all of that led to “booms in settlement and tourism” in California and Florida. Each state had a separate calling card for which was most prefered, California for the mountains or Florida the flat land, one western the other southern. Comparing Florida and California was not only popular news articles it was also used in games such as mahjong and crossword puzzles. As this article was drawing to a close it stated that “snipes aside, climate and the lifestyle they offered to middle-class Americans set Southern California and Florida apart.” I learned from the article that people believed back then that precious metals and forests were “an infinite resource.......can never be exhausted by man in his ignorance or stupidity.” Now both states face natural disasters, wildfires, flooding from hurricanes, and dangerous heat. Insurance in both states are refusing coverage for several different damages incurred due to these occurrences adding to the mix a financial aspect. 

Dinner tonight is “catch as catch can.”

Joy  

         on the road

September 12, 2023 a thought for today, Blame yourself if you have no branches or leaves; don't accuse the sun of partiality. Chinese Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was “in the middle.” I shot several in the middle subjects today and settled on this one of my snowball bush in the middle of the panels of my neighbor’s fence. 

Today is the funeral service so things are going on all around me. We are going to have some rain accompany us today. Hopefully it stays light or better still holds off until we are inside. 

I am trying to get things done around here before I leave so I won’t have anything on the  agenda later.

The second upload for yesterday was from my archives and was for one of the “my choice” uploads. The storm clouds presented themselves for this moment in time capture. 

This is a small thing compared to what else is going on but last night I realized we are out of Sweet Pea’s “midnight snack.” So when I do get home I am going to be making her “special” meatball recipe. Maybe that will have a double purpose along with making her treat it may take the edge off the emotions of the day. 

The first upload for today is “I can’t live without” ....my photography. This is one of my older cameras. I use it octagonally but I use a smaller Sony still with a Zeiss lens more often. 

The word for today is growth. Enough shovels of earth -- a mountain. Enough pails of water -- a river, Chinese Proverbs.  A tree trunk the size of a man grows from a blade as thin as a hair. A tower nine stories high is built from a small heap of earth, Lao Tzu.  Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken but I hope into a better shape, Charles Dickens. If you would attain to what you are not yet, you must always be displeased by what you are. For where you are pleased with yourself there you have remained. Keep adding, keep walking, keep advancing, Saint Augustine of Hippo.  The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice, George Eliot.  Your hand opens and closes opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open you would be paralysed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds wings, Rumi. Upon the creatures we have made, we are, ourselves, at last, dependent, Johann von Goethe.  Growth is the only evidence of life, John Henry Newman. Progress has not followed a straight ascending line, but a spiral with rhythms of progress and retrogression, of evolution and dissolution, Johann von Goethe.  A mind that is stretched by new experiences can never go back to its old dimensions, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.  From a small seed a mighty trunk may grow. Aeschylus. Grow in the root of all grace, which is faith. Believe God's promises more firmly than ever. Allow your faith to increase in its fullness, firmness, and simplicity. Charles Spurgeon.  The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit. Moliere.  I grow old learning something new every day. Solon.  The stars shall fade away, the sun himself Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years, But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth, Unhurt amidst the wars of elements, The wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds. Joseph Addison.  As we grow old, the beauty steals inward. Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

My second upload for today is on the Columbus skyline as the sun was starting its journey to a close for the day. This is another of the “my choice” uploads. 

I some times write about things kids ask about. This article comes from the site that I use for that, most of what I have been using is slanted more toward kids than adults. This one seems more toward the adult in us.  The title is “Canines go to college in this class that seeks to give shelter dogs a fresh start.” This is one of a series of “Uncommon Courses .............highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching” that this site covers. The teacher of this course said that as she was growing up the love of animals “led me to volunteer at animal shelters.”After becoming a teacher of psychology she decided to carry on with this urge for caring for shelter animals in another way. Some of what used in the psychology courses about learning could be used in her other interest, training shelter dogs. Some shelter dogs “display” behaviors like “fearfulness, destructiveness and disobedience.” With these problems they become less adoptable. She developed a course to use “behavioral analysis and modification techniques toward the training of shelter dogs.” Along with the normal training “cues,” sit, down, stay and so on there is the exploration of “the emotional, psychological and physiological benefits of the human-animal bond.” They study reducing stress by urging the dogs into “educational and therapeutic environments.” One of the methods is to have the dog sit by them quietly through the students whole lecture. The students also take their assigned dog to the clinical facilities like a mock hospital, with emergency rooms, intensive care rooms, patients rooms, maternity and exam rooms. They sit by wheelchairs and beds as the students are “affectionate and nurturing.” Beyond the one-on-one with a dog the students learn about grants and funding to support the shelters. This course is meant to create “a collaborative and reciprocal partnership between a university and the community.” The students will use their training to work with shelter dogs as well as experience “this knowledge can later be translated to other domains of their lives...... and develop into ethical and responsible citizens.”

There was a luncheon at church after the service so dinner will be on the snack side of things.

Joy

                    safety

 

 September 10, 2023 a thought for today, Before you plan to improve the world, look around your own house three times. Chinese Proverb

The fist upload for September 9 was “made from wood.” I looked around for something that I wanted for this image. I finally decided on the table legs on this vintage gate-leg table. 

It’s been a long week, with lots of sympathy messages and expressions of compassion, love and support. I am so grateful for all who have shown us these thoughts. Working through the emotions are another level of experience. I missed church for the second Sunday in a row which saddens me because I also need the weekly renewal. But for now I need to be alone or with immediate family for this early time in the grieving process. Hopefully next week I can venture back to a closer to “normal” schedule. Bob was my constant companion for sixty-one-years. I have lost a child with the gentle soul who loved life and lost a huge part of my life. 

The second upload for yesterday was “still life.” I don’t think there is much of anything that is more of a still life than this poor smacked orange barrel. 

Today I am moving along step by step. It will be a quite and lonely day. I think I will tend to my houseplant garden....that will bring some solace and peace as well as a bit closer to my higher power. 

My first upload for today is “a man-made pattern”. I have a rug in the living room that is full of all kinds of patterns. I also have a foot stool covered in this pattern. I felt that is was much more suitable for this offering. 

A word for today is grace.  Grace is but glory begun, and glory is but grace perfected, Jonathan Edwards.  You are so weak. Give up to grace. The ocean takes care of each wave till it gets to shore. You need more help than you know, Rumi.  A graceful and pleasing figure is a perpetual letter of recommendation, Francis Bacon.  Beauty and grace command the world, Park Benjamin.  Virtue and genuine graces in themselves speak what no words can utter, William Shakespeare. Will is to grace as the horse is to the rider. Saint Augustine of Hippo. Gracefulness is to the body what understanding is to the mind. Francois de la Rochefoucauld.   One of these days you who are now a babe in Christ shall be a father in the church. Hope for this great thing but hope for it as a gift of grace and not as the wages of work or as the product of your own energy, Charles H. Spurgeon.  Christ went more willingly to the cross than we do to the throne of grace, Thomas Watson. Grace is the absence of everything that indicates pain or difficulty, hesitation or incongruity, William Hazlitt.  Learn to... be what you are, and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not, Henri Frederic Amiel.  The Divine Light is always in man, presenting itself to the senses and to the comprehension, but man rejects it, Giordano Bruno.  

A second upload for today is “what I am watching.” I was “watching” traffic go by
as I waiting in the drive through at McDonalds.

Another upload for this date was “back alley.” I know “back alleys” are a little on the messy side. So I found that the sky today added a more interesting part of the image. 

This article is by one of my favorite writers for the Columbus Dispatch. He has and shares an interesting outlook and common events in life. Here is one of them. In this article he is writing about things he is tired of. It is his “semiannual (unless I forget) list of trends, fads, crazes and troubling developments that I wish would go away.” The first listed is “shows about rich people behaving badly.” He claims he is “witness” to appalling billionaire behavior as in Trump, Musk, Snyder, Murdoch and other “moguls” and “heirs.” He prefers to “turn to fiction.” The next on his list is “clean windshields.” In his words, “back when the planet was healthy, you couldn’t drive from here to West Jefferson without amassing an impressive collection of smashed bugs on the windshield.” His feelings are that it is an ominous sign cars are arriving where ever it is they are going with many more “insect carnage” than in earlier times. He mentioned in the article that scientists have two ways of looking at this occurrence. One thought is that “bug splatters are down precipitously.” On the other side of the coin the bug splatter is not due to slanted windshields, more likely due to fewer insects “not a good sign for our ailing planet.” Number three on his list is “world record attempts.”Some of the attempts at the world records are “largest piñata, heaviest ball of cheese, loudest burp by a woman.” He went on to say on the subject “(Disclosure: In a long journalism career I have written about the World’s Largest Meatball, World’s Largest Irish Dance and World’s Largest Potluck, just to name a few.)” Another on his list is “the names of generations.” In this class of people are Baby Boomers, Millennial and GenZ. He says keeping track of when each names generation begins and ends is of real importance in clues to “identity and outlook.” Lastly he comments “I’m also tired of rising house prices, campaign war chests, destination weddings, bucket lists and those TikTok videos where people smash eggs on their kids’ foreheads.”

I’m not sure about dinner tonight but most likely hamburgers and fries. 

Joy

            open for business